Democratic Party of Japan

The Japanese catch all party, founded in 1998, which governed 2009 to 2012 before dissolving in 2016.

Overview

The DPJ unified opposition forces in 1998, growing through LDP fatigue to a 2007 upper house win and the landmark 2009 landslide that ended LDP rule. Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan premierships navigated US base disputes and the 2011 triple disaster, with the Fukushima response defining the government fate. Yoshihiko Noda reopened nuclear plants as the party fractured and lost 2012 overwhelmingly. Successor mergers produced the Democratic Party then the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, led by Katsuya Okada, Yukio Edano, and now Kenta Izumi. The DPJ proved Japanese alternation possible and that governing without the bureaucracy machine is brutally hard.